Weekly Sailing Summary

AUDI SYDNEY HARBOUR REGATTA

Generator trouble on Wild Oats X forced the Reichel Pugh 66 to retire from the first of the two offshore passage races for IRC Division in the Audi Sydney Harbour regatta, but she won a close line honours in the second race. Skipper Mark Richards admitted they had virtually limped around the course with more mechanical issues and two ripped kites that saw them finish goose-winging the headsail in the absence of a spinnaker.

After a gnarly kite run to the finish just short of the Opera House, Saturday’s line and overall winner Loki, the Reichel Pugh 63 owned by Stephen Ainsworth and skippered by Gordon Maguire, won the IRC Division on corrected time and overall. There was some gear damage and plenty of torn sails in Sunday’s gusty nor’easter as the 300 plus competing crews tried to keep their boats under control in tough conditions.

The timber built skiffs, with their huge sail areas and mass of bodies needed for ballast, provided a wonderful contrast to the ultra modern IRC boats with their brightly coloured carbon fibre booms and enormous coloured wheels during the Audi Sydney Harbour Regatta. Check out Sydney Harbour Regatta.com or also CYCA.com.au.

The South Australian Division 1 grand prix yacht Secret Men’s Business 3.5 led the 2010 Audi IRC Australian Championship at the end of Round 1 at Audi Victoria Week in January, but now two new smaller yachts have taken the lead. Aspiring to be named the 2010 Audi IRC Australian Champion and to win a new luxury Audi vehicle, Aroona and Canute are in a tight struggle at the top of the leaderboard following the Audi Sydney Harbour Regatta. Go to Audi.com.au/sailing for more info.

KEEL BOATS

The Melbourne to King Island Race concluded when Magic finished, winning the wooden spoon prize of $150 worth of cheese. With their arrival the results table was finalized with Geomatic Joker first in IRC, Jazz Player second and Ninety Seven third. Magic Carpet, which won line honours over their fully crewed fellow competitors, won the Two Handed Division as well. More results at ORCV.org.au.

The 2010 Marlay Point Over Night Yacht Race on the Gippsland Lakes was a challenging event this year with the start delayed as the edges of a severe thunderstorm passed by. After torrential rain, very light winds of variable direction challenged sailing skills throughout the night, made good by a steady ten knot wind in the morning. See picture at LakeWellingtonYachtClub.yachting.org.au.

The Australian Sailing Team’s Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen are being auctioned off as celebrity crew members for the annual Wangi Cruise for Cancer on Sunday 21 March, with all proceeds raised on the day being donated to the McGrath Foundation and the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia. Joining the pair in the auction will be Haylee Outteridge and Lauren Jeffries, meaning that four of the world’s top 49er and 29er sailors will be sailing on different boats. Yachting.org.au.

Thirty yachts have entered the Audi Sydney Offshore Newcastle Yacht Race – the largest fleet assembled for this race. The 213 nautical mile category two race starts on Friday 19 March from a start line just off Steele Point. The fleet then makes its way north to a laid mark around 20 nautical miles east of Crowdy Head before the yachts head for Newcastle and the finish in the Hunter River. CYCA.com.au.

One of Australia's leading media commentators on financial issues, renowned for his ability to explain complex money issues in plain English, will be swapping the number crunching and analytics for on water tactics and wind shifts at Sail Port Stephens next month. Paul Clitheroe and his Balance crew will be focusing on getting the right results in the Yachting NSW IRC Championship at Sail Port Stephens on 12-18 April. SailPortStephens.com.au.

Racing in the Louis Vuitton Trophy series starts in Auckland on 9 March. Eight teams are competing in event-supplied 85-foot long AC Class yachts from the last two America’s Cups. These yachts require a crew of 17 top sailors. Louis Vuitton Trophy.com.

AROUND THE WORLD

Following an unforgettable stopover in Qingdao, China, the teams competing in the Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race were treated to a spectacular send off on March 2 for Race 7, the 5,680-mile race to San Francisco, USA, the longest leg in the 35,000-mile global challenge. Spirit of Australia was first to round the waypoint off the south coast of Japan. Clipper Round the World.com.

Jessica Watson is sailing across the Indian Ocean in good conditions, 15 knots of wind, clear skies, gentle seas and lovely sunsets. She has headed north to the lower latitudes to avoid the worst of a weather system. JessicaWatson.com.au.

18 FOOTERS

John Harris, Dave Lister and Peter Harris on Rag & Famish Hotel won the Australian 18 Footers League’s inaugural Ferry Patrons Trophy race on Sydney Harbour. All crews elected to go with their smaller number two rigs over a three buoys course in the 22-25 knot north east wind. Race 14 of the Club Championship will be sailed Sunday 14 March. 18footers.com.au.

MOTH WORLDS

The Moth Worlds are underway in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. The fleet of 43 yachts includes Australian skippers Scott Babbage, Andrew MacDougall and Rob Gough. More details.

NEWS BRIEFS

NSW Maritime has stepped up its ongoing campaign for safer waterways by launching a new web-based resource to help improve boaters’ understanding of water-traffic rules. The online guide offers boaters an interactive experience to help them with a range of practical navigation information, such as how to understand and use day time and night time navigation buoys and marks. The Vessel Navigation Interactive Guide is available at: More details.

No matter whether you're an avid yachty, casual fisherman, dedicated beach walker, summertime boaty, keen historian or local resident the ORCV's Rip Tour on Port Phillip has been a highlight for years because it is informative and educational. The next Rip Tour is set for April 18, 2010 and it always sells out, so get in early. ORCV.org.au.

After watching a television program on the troubles in Haiti, Tom Braidwood was inspired to help. One of the main problems is the lack of shelter and with the wet season looming this problem will only get worse. Tom has come up with a plan to convert old spinnakers into shades. Sailmakers are also being asked to donate their time. More details.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

Mar 11 - 8th Phil Renouf Memorial Lecture at the National Maritime Museum, Darling Harbour, Sydney at 6.15pm -8.30pm. Young men mucking about in old boats will be presented by Warwick Turner, one of the founders of the Sydney Heritage Fleet (SHF) who was instrumental in saving and restoring the Lady Hopetoun back in the 1960s. Turner has had a life-long passion and interest in steam vessels and their restoration, in particular the inland paddle-steamers of previous centuries. ANMM.gov.au.

Mar 28 – April 4 -- Gladstone Harbour Festival - free entertainment, live music, street parades, fireworks and the spectacle of the yachts arriving after completing the Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht race. GladstoneFestival.com.

April 2 – Good Friday

April 2 - 61st Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Race starts. Queensland’s most famous blue water yachting event sets sail in the waters off Brisbane every year on Good Friday. BrisbaneToGladstone.com.au.

April 2 – Hydro Tasmania Three Peaks Race starts at Beauty Point on the Tamar River just north of Launceston and finishes in Hobart on the River Derwent. Three Peaks.org.au.

April 4 – 11th Solo Tasman Challenge from New Plymouth, New Zealand to Mooloolaba, Australia. Solo-tasman.co.nz.

April 6 - Information night at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, Rushcutters Bay, Sydney on diesel engine maintenance with Dave Giddings of Drive Marine Services. All welcome. Please book at CYCA reception on 8292-7800 or reception@cyca.com.au.

April 12 - Long Distance Offshore Sailing Seminar - Sail Repairs at UK Halsey Loft, Beach Road Sandringham. ORCV.org.au.

April 12 – 18 -- Sail Port Stephens - Entries are open for all divisions, including the NSW IRC Championship, Commodores Cup (PHS), SB3 National Championship, Sports Boats and the Port Stephens Trophy which has a racing and cruising division. The feeder races for the event will be RPAYC’s Pittwater to Newcastle on 10 April and NCYC’s Newcastle to Port Stephens race on 11 April. SailPortStephens.com.au.

April 27 - Long Distance Offshore Sailing Seminar - Medical and Dentistry with Rosie Colahan at Royal Brighton Yacht Club at 7pm. ORCV.org.au.

April 28 - Don McIntyre and crew depart Tonga to re-create Captain William Bligh’s 4,000 mile open boat ‘Mutiny on the Bounty’ voyage. TaliskerBountyBoat.com.

May 4 - Information night at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, Rushcutters Bay, Sydney on electrical maintenance with Rob Starkey. All welcome. Please book at CYCA reception on 8292-7800 or reception@cyca.com.au

May 9 - Butlers Business and Law Round Lord Howe Island Yacht Race - The Ocean Racing Club of Victoria is assisting the Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club with their hosting of the 770 nautical mile Category 1 race. Vessels will partake in either the non-stop Racing Division or the Performance Cruiser Division, which give competitors a few days to explore the wonders of the World Heritage Park, before finishing back in Newcastle. ORCV.org.au.